engine

i got a 96 civic dx
im looking to get better performance out of it
would it be beter to upgrade engines or just add turbocharger or what?

honestly the d series engines aren't very good to start. unless you have the SOHC vtech. i'd say if you keep the engine you should get headers intake exaust upgrade the ignition and fuel system and then put some N20 in it. other than that you can get a engine swap and start from there.

well, you'll get more power out of a turbo, but not as good as if you swap and then turbo later

Keep your stock motor, its perfectly fine. For now, if you can, purchase a turbocharger kit. Eventually, when you want more power, you can rebuild the motor to handle more boost, which will make much more power. Just remember, turbo = tuning tuning tuning tuning!

Exactly, Si2000 Vtec has it right.

All I hear about from people is swap, swap, swap. Has anyone tryed tuning their D-series? They are perfectly fine engines with good potential. Of coarse the B-series is a much better engine with a lot more power, potential and after-market support, but if you swap you'll never see that money again :( . If you want a B-series, buy a car in which one already exists.

Originally posted by 95civicman
honestly the d series engines aren't very good to start. unless you have the SOHC vtech. i'd say if you keep the engine you should get headers intake exaust upgrade the ignition and fuel system and then put some N20 in it. other than that you can get a engine swap and start from there.

Why SOHC Vtec....thats the same crap as the 106hp ones when it comes to modding, plus its just as slow stock. Isn't the DOHC what gives good potential, and unlike integras only Si's come DOHC. Clear me out here.

Originally posted by Pilot


Why SOHC Vtec....thats the same crap as the 106hp ones when it comes to modding, plus its just as slow stock. Isn't the DOHC what gives good potential, and unlike integras only Si's come DOHC. Clear me out here.

your right dude.

D series are not worth the time and money your going to put into it. Just swap it.



Becca

Such a sad day when people think SOHC's dont have any potential... OK what makes a DOHC VTEC motor fast? Can anyone guess? Well, first of all, they aren't THAT MUCH FASTER. The 106hp 96 Civic DX does a 16.7 1/4 mile when the 00 Civic Si does a 15.7 with 160hp.

THERE IS PLENTY OF POTENTIAL IN SOHC MOTORS!!!

THERE IS PLENTY OF POTENTIAL IN SOHC MOTORS!!!

Granted, if your money is limitless, obviously your going to get an H23 resleeved to 2.5L and throw a VTEC head on with a turbocharger. Not everyone's money is unlimited.

There are three basic things that set the SOHC and DOHC VTEC motors apart; Agressive cams, High-Compression Pistons, and Close-Ratio transmissions.

1) Cams: There are plenty of aftermarket cams available for SOHC motors, thanks to Gude, Zex, and soon Skunk2. If you have an SOHC VTEC motor, you even have more options. I've seen cammed SOHC motors hang with DOHC VTEC motors all day long. It's not rocket science, its simple engineering.

2) Pistons: There are multiple, I repeat, multiple pistons you can swap into this motor to raise the compression, including Y1 pistons. Pistons with Cams will get your horsepower figures up near that of a DOHC VTEC if your starting with an SOHC VTEC.

3) Trannys: Late-Model 96-00 EX transmissions have fairly close ratios, along with the EG Civic Si transmission. Slap one of these on your DX motor and shave a substantial amount of time off your E.T.

Just remember, anytime you work with a motor, your dealing with tuning and research. TUNING AND RESEARCH, the most vital parts of building your motor.

Anyway, im done preeching... Hopefully I helped some of you reasonable people out!

all of the mods people claim are out there for SOHC's are all so damn special because they bring a SOHC's performance to that of a DOHC. apply those same mods to a DOHC, and the SOHC has no chance. to me, trying to get a SOHC fast means you have limitless money, because it takes all of it to get that motor anywhere. what you claim as equality is really a full second difference in those 1/4 mile times. out of numbers that rarely go over 17, one is a lot. it takes a lot more work to get a SOHC to mid-14's, considering it has to shave 2 full seconds to get there, whereas DOHC has a mere second to shave. this means getting to faster times cheaper, making a DOHC a better choice in the long run. a SOHC will never be able to keep up with a DOHC if both engines receive the same mods with the same tuning.

Originally posted by Cancivicd16
Exactly, Si2000 Vtec has it right.

All I hear about from people is swap, swap, swap. Has anyone tryed tuning their D-series? They are perfectly fine engines with good potential. Of coarse the B-series is a much better engine with a lot more power, potential and after-market support, but if you swap you'll never see that money again :( . If you want a B-series, buy a car in which one already exists.
Sorry man I can't agree w/ you there. I have a hatch w/ a B18C1 and all together cost me $6200. If I would have bought a GSR it would have been much more! I'm not even going to get into the power to weight ratio. All of us can't afford high performance cars. That is why they are labeled "project cars" So, I'm not going to buy a b-series in a car that has one that already exists, I'm going to take one out, put it in my hatch and then smoke the living hell out of the car that it originally came from. Also, have you tried shelling out money into a d-series engine. Anyone that knows anything about civics would know that it is an extreme "waste of money." I use this term loosely, b/c you can spend money to make it faster and I agree that a sohc d-series engine is fun to have for a 1st project car, but in the long run, putting more and more money into a sohc civic is a waste of money. Some of you may disagree, but go ahead and try it, and don't blame me when your wallet is empty and your car is still slow.

thx for all the help
i am really considering doing the swap if i can find a place to get a B series in canada i cant seem to find 1 :(

Originally posted by Pilot


Why SOHC Vtec....thats the same crap as the 106hp ones when it comes to modding, plus its just as slow stock. Isn't the DOHC what gives good potential, and unlike integras only Si's come DOHC. Clear me out here.


well because it has the vtec and i've heard it has a better fuel system then the dx engines which would be better for turbo or N20 applications.

Originally posted by nemesls_2000

Sorry man I can't agree w/ you there. I have a hatch w/ a B18C1 and all together cost me $6200. If I would have bought a GSR it would have been much more! I'm not even going to get into the power to weight ratio. All of us can't afford high performance cars. That is why they are labeled "project cars" So, I'm not going to buy a b-series in a car that has one that already exists, I'm going to take one out, put it in my hatch and then smoke the living hell out of the car that it originally came from. Also, have you tried shelling out money into a d-series engine. Anyone that knows anything about civics would know that it is an extreme "waste of money." I use this term loosely, b/c you can spend money to make it faster and I agree that a sohc d-series engine is fun to have for a 1st project car, but in the long run, putting more and more money into a sohc civic is a waste of money. Some of you may disagree, but go ahead and try it, and don't blame me when your wallet is empty and your car is still slow.


I do see your point and I am still thinking of swapping my D-series for the all powerful B-series. But you at least must agree with me that if you do a swap, you won't get that money back when you go to sell the car. Anyway, how do you like the B18C1? What are your times like? The GSR sounds like a good swap to me.

Originally posted by civicangel
thx for all the help
i am really considering doing the swap if i can find a place to get a B series in canada i cant seem to find 1 :(


Where in Canada are you? I live in Edmonton and there is a place called Matrix Motorsports here that sells and swaps pretty much any engine you could want. They are very professional and are happy to answer any questions you might have. B16A - $2200, B18C1 - $5000, These were the two engines I was looking at for next summer.

Originally posted by Cancivicd16



I do see your point and I am still thinking of swapping my D-series for the all powerful B-series. But you at least must agree with me that if you do a swap, you won't get that money back when you go to sell the car. Anyway, how do you like the B18C1? What are your times like? The GSR sounds like a good swap to me.

Well, I used to own a 97 Civic w/ the same D-series engine you mentioned. If you are selling it to the right person, then you will have a better chance of getting your money back. If you had to add up ALL of the mods you have done to your car including both looks and performance, do you really think you're going to get what you put into it? Come one now, we all know the answer to that one! But, the point of doing these mods is for ourself, for having a sense of accomplishment, pride, and appreciation for your car, not for how much money we are going to try to get back when we sell it!
Anyway, I like to think that the B in B18C1 stands for bad ass! It is 20 times more fun to drive than my old SOHC 97 Civic. Where I live, we don't have a 1/4 mile track close by, we just have a 1/8 mile dragstrip. But, in the 1/8th, my best time was 9.5 on stock tires.

i live in ontario near toronto
i found a place but they want 4-5 grand for a B16 :(

my budget is only so big and i cant really afford put 5 grand in to just a new engine
b/c if what they say is true i wont be gettin the money back when it comes to selling the car

Originally posted by civicangel
i live in ontario near toronto
i found a place but they want 4-5 grand for a B16 :(

my budget is only so big and i cant really afford put 5 grand in to just a new engine
b/c if what they say is true i wont be gettin the money back when it comes to selling the car

4-5 grand plus tax right? and I bet the engine is either abused or very old, and unless you can do it yourself you also need garage and stuff to work with. I'd just save the 4 grand, sell car, and buy an SiR with decent milage, and you'd have a good resale value too. I've seen some going for $17000.

You poor people... please learn about cars soon.

$4-5k for a b16!!!! Where are you getting your engines from? My friend just put a b16 in his hatch and he bought it for $1200 including the s/h. Seriously though, you should not be paying over $2400 for a b16.

Hey Nemesis, you're not getting off the line that good. You need to get better tires or something coz my 1/8 time is 9.4... haha. That means you're using horsepower to win. But I could be wrong I only have a few questions.

When you beat people, do they like, have you by the line and then you beat them in second gear or blaze them in third?

If so, then your 60' isn't too good. It doesn't mean your car sucks, you know what I think of your car. It means you need to work on putting the power to the ground. Your 1/4 mile should be good though, because even if you have trouble off the line, GSR's second and third gear make up for it alright and you should still run low 14's. Just work on getting that 60' into the 8's or low 8's, coz there was a hatch with an LS motor at the track I go to and he ran 7's on street Zrated tires.

Yea, I'm not racing on slicks, just the Firestone tires w/ hx rims (tryin' to keep it light). They are actually P185/65 R14's. Yea, they usually have me at the line and I end up blazin by in 2nd. I still can't find out what rpm to launch at. I've been going at around 3000, and 3500. Last night I was playin' around at about 4000. I need to get some more practice! My 60' time is 2.4 which is pretty good considering my friend w/ a hatch, gsr, supercharger, AND slicks is running his 60' at 2.2. I've learned that if I let go of the clutch to quick, the tires spin crazy and then when I switch to 2nd, they hook and it feels bogged down. I've found that rolling the clutch helps a lot, but it won't be before too long before I go and start replacing that!

Originally posted by nemesls_2000
$4-5k for a b16!!!! Where are you getting your engines from? My friend just put a b16 in his hatch and he bought it for $1200 including the s/h. Seriously though, you should not be paying over $2400 for a b16.


They are saying $4-5K Canadian dollars. Not US dollars. I was quoted $2200 Can. for a B16 with 40000 km on it. I don't know what that is in US dollars, but I think its a pretty good deal. ( I think it's about 60 cents on the dollar )

Yea, that makes a bit more sense!